General Public License (Gpl)
| The General Public License (GPL) is a copyleft software license that allows anybody to use, read, copy, share, change, and distribute a computer program for free. The GPL is the most popular free software license in the world, and has been used for a wide variety of software projects, including the Linux kernel, the GNU Compiler Collection, and the GNOME desktop environment. The GPL was first released in 1989 by Richard Stallman, the founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The FSF is a nonprofit organization that promotes the development and use of free software. The GPL is sometimes referred to as the "GNU GPL" or the "GNU General Public License," because the FSF is best known for its work on the GNU operating system. The GPL is a "copyleft" license, which means that it allows anyone to make changes to a software program and distribute the modified program, as long as they make the source code available to others under the same license. This is in contrast to "permissive" licenses, which allow software to be used and distributed without requiring the release of the source code. The GPL has been revised several times since its initial release. The most recent version, GPLv3, was released in 2007. The GPL is a very important license for the free software community. It ensures that software remains free and accessible to everyone. It also allows developers to cooperate on projects, without having to worry about copyright or licensing issues. |
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